Source: Guardian UK
Foreign secretary suggests after a ceasefire, UK would not need to wait for end of what could be years of talks on a two-state solution
The UK could officially recognise a Palestinian state after a ceasefire in Gaza without waiting for the outcome of what could be years of talks between Israel and the Palestinians on a two-state solution, David Cameron has said.
Speaking during a visit Thursday to Lebanon intended to tamp down regional tensions, the British foreign secretary said no recognition could come while Hamas remained in Gaza, but that it could take place while Israeli negotiations with Palestinian leaders were continuing.
UK recognition of an independent state of Palestine, including in the United Nations, “can’t come at the start of the process, but it doesn’t have to be the very end of the process,” said Cameron, a former British prime minister.
“It could be something that we consider as this process, as this advance to a solution, becomes more real,” Cameron said. “What we need to do is give the Palestinian people a horizon towards a better future, the future of having a state of their own.”
That prospect is “absolutely vital for the long-term peace and security of the region”, he said.
Britain, the US and other western countries have supported the idea of an independent Palestine existing alongside Israel as a solution to the region’s most intractable conflict, but have said Palestinian independence should come as part of a negotiated settlement. There have been no substantive negotiations since 2009.
The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has repeatedly rejected the creation of an independent Palestinian state after the war, and has even boasted in recent weeks that he was instrumental in preventing Palestinian statehood.
A move by some of Israel’s key allies to recognise a Palestinian state without Israel’s buy-in could isolate Israel and put pressure on it to come to the table.
Cameron said the first step must be a “pause in the fighting” in Gaza that would eventually turn into “a permanent, sustainable ceasefire.”
He added that in order for his country to recognise a Palestinian state, the leaders of the Hamas militant group would need to leave Gaza “because you can’t have a two state solution with Gaza still controlled by the people responsible for Oct. 7,” referring to the deadly Hamas attack on Israel that triggered the war in Gaza.
Hamas has so far taken the position that its leaders would not leave the enclave as part of a ceasefire deal.
Categories: Palestine
Biden’s order establishes a system for imposing financial sanctions and visa restrictions against individuals who are found to have attacked or intimidated Palestinians or seized their property, two senior Biden administration officials told reporters.
United Nations figures show that daily settler attacks have more than doubled in the nearly four months since the Hamas attack and Israel’s relentless attacks on the Gaza Strip.
The order freezes any U.S. assets of those targeted and generally bars Americans from dealing with them. The State Department on Thursday also planned to announce the first four individuals hit by the order, the officials said.
Biden and other senior U.S. officials have warned repeatedly that Israel must act to stop violence by Israeli settlers against Palestinians in the West Bank.
“These actions pose a grave threat to peace, security, stability in the West Bank, Israel and the Middle East region, and they also obstruct the realization of ultimately an independent Palestinian state existing side by side with the state of Israel,” one of the senior officials said.
Biden has raised the issue directly with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the official said, as Biden seeks a path to a two-state solution for Israel and the Palestinians once the Gaza conflict ends.
https://www.dailysabah.com/world/americas/us-issues-exec-order-against-israeli-settlers-who-attack-palestinians
In Historic Move, Biden Sanctions Extremist Israeli Settlers in West Bank
Four Israeli settlers will be targeted in the first round of sanctions, in which their assets in the U.S. will be frozen. Biden’s order will further allow the U.S. to impose sanctions on additional individuals targeting Palestinian civilians – whether through violence, intimidation, property damages or terror.
https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2024-02-01/ty-article/.premium/in-historic-move-biden-sanctions-extremist-israeli-settlers-in-west-bank/0000018d-6577-d63c-a1cf-7ff7401f0000